The Gauhati High Court has issued a notice to the Assam government after the father of a 19-year-old, who died two months after his family was evicted during a demolition drive, approached the court seeking compensation, alleging that his death was caused by “inhuman conditions” that they had been living in since.
In a writ petition, 67-year-old Aynal Hoque said that his son, Hafizur Rahman, died on August 1 after falling ill because of “severe exposure to heat, dehydration and malnutrition” at a makeshift camp the family was living in after their home was demolished during an eviction drive in Assam’s Goalpara district on June 16.
The eviction exercise, carried out in the Hasila Beel wetland area, was one of several large-scale eviction exercises conducted by the Assam government. More than 600 families had been affected by this particular eviction exercise.
“The eviction drive was conducted with heavy police presence, and the affected families, including the petitioner’s family, were not allowed to collect their belongings. There was no arrangement for rehabilitation, resettlement or temporary shelter. As a result, the petitioner, his wife, and son were forced to take shelter in an open area near Hasila Beel, along with other evicted families. They are now staying in makeshift shelters with tarpaulin and bamboo for survival and, till the date of filing this petition, they are still residing in the makeshift camp,” states the petition.
“The living conditions at the said makeshift camp were utterly deplorable and inhuman. The families were surviving without safe drinking water, adequate food, sanitation, or medical facilities. The authorities did not supply any essential relief materials nor deploy any health workers or disaster management team despite repeated oral requests made by the victims. The petitioner’s family was living under unbearable heat, rainfall and unhygienic surroundings during the monsoon season,” it states.
Alleging that the eviction was carried out without following the due process of law and that Hafizur’s death was a “direct result of the inhuman conditions” caused by the eviction drive, the family has made a plea to the court for directions to state authorities to pay monetary compensation to the family.
The petition has also sought “an independent judicial inquiry into the circumstances of the eviction drive at Hasila Beel” and directions to state authorities to “frame and implement a comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlement plan for the petitioner, including provision of permanent shelter, livelihood support, sanitation, and medical facilities”.
After hearing the counsel for the petitioner and the respondents, the Gauhati High Court issued a notice on November 14 to the respondents, including the Chief Secretary, the Commissioner and Secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, the Principal Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department, and district authorities and police.
The Gauhati High Court issued a notice to the respondents, including the Chief Secretary, the Commissioner and Secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department 
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